W. W.
Malta.
The Termination "-itis" (Vol. vii., p. 13.).—Adsum asks: "What is the derivation of the term -itis, used principally in medical words, and these signifying, inflammation?" If "N. & Q." were a medical journal, the question might be answered at length, to the great advantage of the profession; for, of late years, this termination has been tacked on by medical writers, especially foreigners, to words of all kinds, in utter defiance of the rules of language: as if a Greek affix were quite a natural ending to a Latin or French noun. -itis can with propriety be appended only to those Greek nouns whose adjectives end in -ιτης: e.g. πλευρα, πλευριτης; κερας, κερατιτης, &c. Πλευριτις is used by Hippocrates. Πλευρα means the membrane lining the side of the chest: πλευριτις (νοδος understood) is morbus lateralis, the side-disease, or pleurisy. In the same manner keratitis is a very legitimate synonym for disease of the horny coat (cornea) of the eye. But medical writers, disregarding the rules of language, have, for some years past, revelled in the use of their favourite -itis to a most ludicrous extent. Thus, from cornea, they make "corneitis," and describe an inflammation of the crystalline lens as lentitis. Nay, some French and German writers on diseases of the eyes have coined the monstrous word "Descemetitis," on the ground that one Monsieur Descemet discovered a structure in the eye, which, out of compliment to him, was called "the membrane of Descemet."
Jaydee.
Miscellaneous.
BOOKS AND ODD VOLUMES
WANTED TO PURCHASE.
Defence of Usury, by Bentham. (A Tract.)
Treatise on Law, by Mackinloch.